[obcbeatle]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

Wow Jerry, I gotta say, the thought of putting a high-dollar "slide" transparency in an old projector fails the "pucker test" for me (as in, if I find that my backside clenches at the thought of doing something, I try to go another direction rather than tempting fate). That said, they're yours now to do as you see fit with them, but you've got a bigger pair than I do, heat shield or no

Keep in mind that these were placed in slide mounts to facilitate handling when used in production, not with the intent that they would ever be placed in a projector. If that's your chosen display method, it would be advisable to have a duplication of each one made to project and keep the original stored away. As far as storing them goes, just think of it like a negative and use the same kind of procedures as were talked about before in a not-too-long-ago thread. What you described sounds very reasonable to me. There are also 20-pocket pages made specifically for slides available. I've also been known to place individual slides in a standard card toploader and store them that way right along with cards, though that can get cumbersome if you're dealing with a lot of slides, in which case I strongly recommend the pages.

Craig, if you're ever doing to be working with anything larger than 2.5" or so, there are only a couple of consumer-level flatbed scanners that I am aware of for films: the Epson V700 and Epson 4990 models. Both are out of production currently (I think. Definitely the 4990 is not currently being produced), but can be picked up on eBay pretty frequently in the $300 range. Finding one with all the original film carrier templates is a little tougher, and will probably cost you a bit more, but depending on what you're doing you may be able to get away without them. Other than those two, you start getting into professional-level scanners, and the prices jump dramatically.

OK ... that is why I asked :-) I'm pretty old school and love old electronics. I occasionally still buy 8mm & 16mm film, clean it and run them on old projectors. If I find something cool enough I'll even digitize portions of the film. Anyway ... I'm probably a bottom feeder within this group in that I can't afford an original Mantle or Ruth so if I did lose one of these slides, it certainly wouldn't break the bank ... but it would be a heartfelt loss. That being said ... when I projected these slides on my family room wall it was a pretty amazing 30 minutes. I'm not sure they make a computer display that big :-) But ... I guess I'll flip this slide projector on eBay and save up for a scanner. Been down that road before when looking for something for some negatives I have. I think the Epson 4990 was what I was looking at and as Lance mentioned, the original film carrier templates are an extra cost unless you get lucky. At least that is what I seem to remember when I looked about 6 months ago. My problem is I keep spending what little money I have on old cards and photo's so I never have enough for a scanner :-) Thanks for all the replies, tips and especially the warning on using the slide projector. Much appreciated!